Tag Archives: Customs Union

The deliberations at Chequers have been agreed to a soft Brexit and we will never want a hard Brexit, as that will hit the man on a street, trying to keep himself in a job and the economy growing.
“Sharing a common rulebook’ is a chance to compromise with a Customs Union , Irish borders for the Irish and free trade. There will be enough arguments against it from the EU as the UK seems to have done a good deal for itself. Some jealous Europeans will not like it, so we need to present a united front, just like the Cabinet. It is our country at stake.
Congratulations to Mrs May.
If some dimwit Conservative MP’s attempt ‘dear John letters’, let them go back to their constitutuencies beforehand. And later give them Mr. Trump to deal with. He will tear us apart if he can.

LucyLou

PS So we have lost Mr David Davis. Everyone will thank him for what he has done, but to quit when we are near agreement is sad.

It is very tempting when travelling abroad to praise your ultimate destination a little too much, especially when your speeches are honoured, rather than criticised at every turn, as at home.

Our diplomats from the Foreign Office etc., are with Mrs May in Japan this week, to advise on different customs and beliefs. It is a brave leader who listens to experienced advisors and accepts that every statement could be ambushed by the less well-meaning.

Mrs May was invited to a Tea Ceremony, a high honour. She was probably smiling and polite throughout, but that is not what the media chose to portray.

Yet we have other allies in Asia, notably China, who sends hundreds of pre-paying students to our blue-chip universities every year. On graduation, they are much more fluent in English than at the start and go on to prodigiously contribute to our national economy.

I may well be missing something here, but I do not understand why Japan should be involved in Brexit. The only thing that springs to mind is that Japan has freedom of the Customs Union when dealing with the EU. We would do well to copy them, imitation being the sincerest form of flattery.

Theresa May suddenly realised the scope and the detail of Brexit when she attended the G20 Summit on 7-8 July 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. Up until then, she seems to have thought that she could manage it all by herself. Her sacked Aides were known for their arrogance. Has it masked ignorance?

In an effort to delegate policy of how to leave Europe she asked Chancellor Phillip Hammond and Brexit Secretary David Davis. However they argued over the detail, in public. Mr Hammond wanted a gradual exit to cushion the economy and Mr Davis stated also in public that the UK would leave the EU and Customs Union in March 2019. She must have wanted to wring their necks.

Now the Gove, that elusive but confused chameleon has made the fundamental mistake of a Company Director out of his depth. In February we all lauded settling of the EU Fishing Policy where we would have a 200-mile band around our coastline for us to fish alone. (That does beg the question of our 22-mile barrier with France and does that mean we can fish 200 miles inland on their lakes?)

Of course a 200-mile barrier is daft in the North Sea but M. Gove told the Danes that they could fish in UK waters. His office said it was about how near the British coast can they fish? M.Gove sees this as a freedom. When we all thought the fisheries policy was mainly settled, why must he muddy the waters? The translation of the Danish meeting was made by a Scottish MP.

The tragedy for other policies is that during the 14 months after the UK voted to leave the EU, there was no plan made. Theresa May’s boorish aides stamped down on discussion and were known for their arrogance.

Where are the female MP’s? Women are just as good at arguing as their male counterparts and could spell triumph instead of the disaster we seem to be rumbling towards.

And whose stupid idea is it to leave the Customs Union? I remember 25 years ago in France, outside any Customs Union, having to stand up for the British government who refused to accept French lamb in retaliation for the French ban on our beef. Please, we do not need repetitions of this childish apolitical behaviour.

We need a plan for each Department of Government and sharpish. Is anyone listening?